Fear of a terrorist attack at Kabul airport

Great Britain, the United States and Australia called on their citizens to immediately leave the territory of the Kabul International Airport. Hamid Karzai due to the threat of a terrorist attack, reports Al Jazeera.

The reason for the urgent recommendations was the threat posed by the militants of the radical movement IS. The US Embassy in Cambodia has also called on American citizens to leave the airport.

Mary Payne, Australia’s foreign minister, said there was a “persistent and very serious threat of terrorist attack” at the airport, urging Australians and Australian visa holders to leave the airport immediately. The Foreign Ministry posted on its website a message: “Do not come to Kabul International Airport due to the increasing and constant threat of a terrorist attack.”

The British Foreign Secretary urges his citizens to:

“If you are in the airport area, leave it, find a safe place and wait for new directions. If you can leave Afghanistan in other ways, safely, do so immediately. “

Earlier, the United States Embassy in Kabul urgently warned American citizens not to visit the international airport in the Afghan capital, and those at the eastern and northern gates to immediately leave this territory. The warning followed US President Joe Biden’s statements about the threat posed by the Islamic State.

Meanwhile, thousands of Afghans are still gathering at the airport gates, hoping to leave the country after the Taliban seize power. The events take place 6 days before the expiration of the deadline for the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said yesterday.

A diplomat from a NATO member country based in the Afghan capital says:

“Taliban officials have pledged security guarantees around the Kabul airport, but intelligence reports of Islamic State terrorists cannot be ignored.”

On condition of anonymity, the diplomat told Reuters that the US, UK and Australian authorities had advised their citizens to leave the airport immediately. He notes:

“The Western powers in no way want to be able to attack or defend against anyone in Afghanistan. Our task is to ensure the completion of the evacuation operation on August 31st. “

The Taliban continue to protect civilians outside the airport, an Islamist official told Reuters today. Having specified at the same time that the Western forces are obliged to meet the evacuation deadline, which ends at the end of the month:

“Our guards are also risking their lives at the Kabul airport, they also face the threat (of attack) from the Islamic State.”

Setting up roadblocks, the Taliban blocked access Afghans at the Kabul airport. An exception is holders of a US passport or visa, Al Jazeera said yesterday. Despite the fact that about 70 thousand people have already been evacuated, several times more are unlikely to be able to leave the country, and their lives will be in jeopardy. The White House is already admittedthat time is sorely lacking, and they will not have time to take out many of their assistants.

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